Simran Sethi is a chocolate tasting professional, and the author of Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love.

Simran Sethi is a chocolate tasting professional, and the author of Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love.

Remember when chocolate used to be simple? It was just Nestlé and Cadbury and Hershey bars. But in recent years chocolate has become super fancy. It’s 80% dark and single origin and infused with cardamom or chilis. Artisanal chocolate is now for the masses. Or at least those willing to pay $6 for a bar.

Journalist Simran Sethi is one of those people. She has traveled the globe reporting on chocolate. Yes, that’s a job. And lucky for cocoa lovers, she’s put her findings into a podcast all about the world of craft chocolate. It’s called The Slow Melt, and from single origin to fair trade to inclusions (nuts and spices and other things added to chocolate), Sethi uncovers the hidden world of one of our favorite foods.

Check out her book, “Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love.”

Listen to the rest of the show!

This is just one segment from a whole show! Click here to explore the entire episode, including interviews with Kim Severson, food correspondent for the New York Times, and Francis Lam, the new host of The Splendid Table.

Call Me!

Do you have a podcast recommendation you’d like to share with us? We want to hear it! Give us a jingle on the Pod Line at 202-885-POD1 and leave a message. Then we’ll put you on the radio and you’ll be famous.

Thanks for listening, pals! ‘Til next time…keep listening, America.

Most Recent Shows

Monday, Oct 08 2018The Big Listen ended production in May 2018. While this site is no longer updated, all the content remains available for archive purposes.

Tegan & Sara, Podcast Super Fans (Encore)

Thursday, May 24 2018Musicians Tegan and Sara are podcast obsessives. This episode, we take a peek at their extensive playlist, plus hear about their own idea for a podcast. Also, the hosts of the LGBTQ show Nancy share their funny and tragic coming out stories. And the Pakistani American host of Beginner walks us through all the things she never learned as a immigrant, like biking and swimming. Plus: saving podcasts for posterity at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Keep reading...

The Big Listen Finale! (Encore)

Thursday, May 17 2018This is the final episode of The Big Listen. Boo! Hiss! Our show is going off the air (read more on that here) and we’re shifting our focus to other projects. So this is last you’ll hear from us. But we’ve so enjoyed getting to share all the great shows we’re listening to with you. Thank you for spending some time with us. Keep reading...

Peering Into Nicole Drespel’s Inbox (Encore)

Thursday, May 17 2018Over the course of your life, you’ve probably had at least a dozen email addresses. And I’m going to go out on a limb and say that at least a couple of those have been super embarrassing. Comedian Nicole Drespel can relate. Not only has she had deeply mortifying email addresses, but she’s also sent more than her fair share of ridiculous emails. Keep reading...